Author: katherineambos

Tonight Madison celebrated the retirement of her Great Uncle Lou with family and friends. The party was at the Granite Club and Mommy and Daddy parked at the wrong elevator so Madison started the party with a 20 minute walk through the halls. She is getting so strong in her walker – she gives any distance a try and does not want to be carried. The party started with a curling match that she and Nate watched from the lounge. She cheered really loud for Daddy. After curling Madison wandered around in her walker to visit with everyone and loved her chicken and fries and ice cream sundae! Her and Nate had a great time using her walker together. It was a great celebration! Happy Retirement Lou!

Madison has been given her first set of chores around the house. She is always asking to help with everything and likes to do things by herself. She often says “Madi do it” and ” big girl by self”. Mommy and Daddy decided to re-arrange the kitchen storage to allow Madison to easily access her plates, bowles and cutlery. Her job is to take her things out of the dish washer and put them in her new shelf or to get the things she needs from her shelf for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Madison’s things use to be stored up high but now she has her own space in a low cabinet that is easy for her to access and is organized for her to be able to learn how to sort everything. She also knows to only touch the things that are in pink bins. So far so good and nice to have a little helper in the kitchen.

After school Madison spent her afternoon with Janine and Suzanne and Buddy! She loves playing with Buddy and always looks forward to her visit. After a fun afternoon, Madison went to March of Dimes for her play session with Monika!

Madison worked with Monika on her jumping,  walking with canes, standing independently and lots of sensory fun with pasta! Madison loves going to see Monika and always looks forward to her days at March of Dimes. We are thrilled that Madison will be able to attend camp there this coming March Break. This will be Madison’s first ever camp experience and we know she will love it! She will go every morning from 9-12 and participate in different conductive education activities in a group with other children around her age.

Madison had a fun morning at school. She fingerprinted over a laminated snowman at sensory time and was an active listener contributing answers during story time. After school she spent the afternoon with Nana. They made necklaces using wooden beads and string, read books, put stickers of fish on a paper fish bowl, played with her baby and had a good lunch. Then it was time to work with Stephanie at Variety Village.

Physio with Stephanie today was focused on walking and standing. Madison used her walker to walk to the cardio room, walked on the treadmill doing intervals for 20 minutes and then walked back with her walker to Stephanie’s room where she did lots of standing activities.  Her stamina and pace of her gait has really improved.

After physio Madison went back to Nana and Papa’s house so Mommy and Daddy could attend a special workshop at Holland Bloorview about Navigating the School System.  It was a workshop to help prepare and guide parents through the different processes of the special education system. Madison will be entering JK in September 2017, but it is at this time next year where a decision has to be made to apply for a specialized kindergarten  program such as Bloorview or Grandview, or to register her in a mainstream classroom at one of her home schools. Mommy and Daddy are trying to do research so they can take their time in making a decision about what is the right direction to go.

For those interested or who are going through the same decision process, here are some slides from tonight’s presentation:

2016-01-20 Holland Bloorview Presentation – Alison Morse and Hannah Lee

While Mommy and Daddy were learning with other parents, Papa took Madison home for bed. They had some laughs with Carter and then listened to lots of songs on Papa’s phone. Madison then fell right asleep right before Mommy and Daddy got home.

Today Madison had her last session in her Grandview block of therapy with Kate. Madison will now have a break until mid to late March. For her last session Kate did the Gross Motor Function Classification System test with Madison. It took the full hour and Madison did a great job following instructions. Kate will then do this test again right before Madison starts JK and then again before she turns 5. Kate will plug the points and comments into a computer program that will give her results that we will see in a few weeks.

The gross motor skills (e.g. sitting and walking) of children and young people with cerebral palsy can be categorised into 5 different levels using this test. GMFCS looks at movements such as sitting and walking. It is helpful because it provides families and clinicians with:

1) a clear description of a child’s current motor function

2)an idea of what equipment or mobility aids a child may need in the future, e.g. crutches, walking frames or wheelchairs.

Generally, a child or young person over the age of 5 years will not improve their GMFCS level so, if for example, a child is classified at a Level IV at the age of 6 then it is likely that they will need to use a mobility device throughout their life.

This morning at school Madison’s class read a story about snow and built a felt snowman on the board. Madison’s job was to put the nose on the snowman. The schools physiotherapist is starting some outdoor sessions this week. She will be taking Madison and her friends out in the snow for their physio sessions to walk and roll and make snow angels in their snow suits. One challenge of Madison being out in the snow was finding boots that fit over her AFO’S. It has taken time but we found a good solution. Stonz boots!

“Our original versatile Booties, available for newborns through to 2 year olds. Wear over bare feet, socks, slippers or shoes, throughout fall, winter and spring! The Booties go on easily, stay on with two adjustable toggles, and keep wind and cold out. Comprised of a water and wind-resistant 600D nylon upper, inner fleece lining and skid-resistant Toughtek® soles for all types of outdoor play. For colder weather, layer up with a pair of our Sherpa-fleece Linerz.”

After school Madison spent her afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Ambos. She played with a special light and had fun playing with all her letters and numbers.

Madison and Emily had a great session tonight working on lots of standing and walking. Madison loved working in her ski boots so much that she asked Emily to use them a second time at the end of the session.  She loved standing in her boots and throwing balls at Stitch.

Madison, Mommy and Daddy had the pleasure of attending a special lunch today in honour of Pam and Medford ‘ s 50th Wedding Anniversary.  Pam’s daughter Nicole did a beautiful job with all the decorations and details and gave a wonderful speech. Madison was so happy to be there, loved all the food and was comfortable walking around the room in her walker visiting with people. Madison is so lucky to have Pam and Medford in her life who care for her so much. She was thrilled to celebrate with them.

Madison started her day waking up at Nana and Papa’s. She had breakfast in bed with Nana and watched Tree house with Papa until he went to work. She had a great time!

Mommy and Daddy picked Madison up and headed to Holland Bloorview. Today was Madison’s first time visiting Bloorview and she loved it! She didn’t want to leave. She attended their Recreation, Respite and Life Skills fair. She did an excellent job navigating through all the booths in her walker. She visited the March of Dimes booth to see a picture of herself,  checked out the music therapy booth offered by Bloorview and also met a very cool dance company called Dance Ability. They provide ballet classes for little ones with physical disabilities all over the GTA. Madison will be checking out their open house and maybe start one of their classes in the summer. Not only will they work on different skills involving balance and coordination they will learn how to count the beats to music and remember sequences of movements for a routine. Madison would then perform in a show at the end. Madison was excited to see all the pictures of other little girls who use their walkers to dance like her.

Madison telling Mommy and Daddy that this pool is not Ryan ‘ s pool

Tearing through the halls at Bloorview

Using an automated door for the first time

After an afternoon nap and a play at home Madison was off to Curle. Curlé (pronounced Curl-eh) is a Bonspiel and fundraiser to help send a family friends children to school in Tanzania. Madison, Molly and Nate wondered around and watched all the curlers having fun on the ice. Madison put her name on a bunch of silent auction items and ate lots of pizza. If you are interested in donating or learning more about this fundraiser please visit http://www.curle.ca.

Madison had a great week at school and with all her therapies. Mommy and Daddy changed her schedule this term so that the beginning of the week would be busier then the end – and so far the change is working well. Daddy picked up Madison from school today and was greeted with lots of compliments from Madison’s teachers. Madison was able to do her first flat puzzle and put all 9 pieces together. She also enjoyed threading wooden beads onto string. Her teachers are doing an excellent job at challenging her during quiet time with her fine motor and cognitive skills. After school Madison was tired from her long week that she didn’t make it out of the driveway before falling asleep.

Madison spent her afternoon at home having some free play, a big lunch and being silly with Carter and Stitch. She was then ready to head to Nana and Papa’s for a sleepover! She helped Mommy pack a few items and then left. Nana and Papa took Madison back in time to Wimpey’s Diner for some soup, chicken and fries. She liked coloring with Nana and ate a good amount of her dinner. She also liked watching the cooks prepare all the meals. When they got home they played for a bit before bed time. Then Madison and Nana got cozy and read some good books before bed. It was a nice way for Madison to end her busy week and a nice way for Mommy and Daddy to have a dinner out before baby #2 arrives.

Madison had a great session with Monika this afternoon. They worked on walking with canes, jumping, independent walking and fine motor skills while sitting. Keep up the great work Madi we are all so proud of you!